Has anyone experienced this @alan ? In this thread the spray guide link to talks about Captan causing leaf injury to Schmidt, Emperor Francis and Giant when it is sprayed between petal fall and harvest.
This mentioned on pg 216 of the guide. In another section the table on pg 68-69 recommends avoiding using Captan altogether as spray for sweet cherries.
I don’t have the three cherries cultivars mentioned above but I have at least one cherry that has Emperor Francis as a parent. So I have some concern about this as I use Captan mixed with Immunox. Has any seen leaf injury with other sweet cherries using Captan?
This year I’m rotating Captan, and two other fungicides in a rotation. So far I haven’t noticed any issues. It is definitely better than not spraying at all. I will let you know if I see anything. I have a Royal Crimson and a Lapins.
I don’t like spraying copper fungicides in general. I think it hurts the leaves too much.
Because I use a single mix (usually) on mixed fruit orchards I often spray sweet cherries with Captan in my spring sprays without a problem. This includes spraying many of Cornell’s recent introductions, Lapins, Mt.Ranier, etc. and some very old Emperor Francis trees. I’m talking a final spray 2 weeks after petal fall, so leaves are at their most tender time.
I haven’t observed any damage on Black Gold. However, I planted a Late Duke (tart/sweet hybrid) last year and noticed some strange leaf damage. The margins of the leaves would yellow. It would start on the tips and then move along the edges of the leaves. It could of been fungicide damage or perhaps something else.
“We grow fruit trees for their fruit”, a ag-chem guru once told me when I commented on Captan burning of leaves that occurs on many species in my region after a cool wet spring that causes leaves to be very tender.
However, home-growers want their trees to look beautiful and to harvest beautiful fruit.
Fortunately, the vast majority of springs provide enough blue-sky days to harden leaves adequately to avoid Captan burn. Cherries seem susceptible to many leaf issues and some varieties regularly defoliate early for reasons I’ve not really investigated. It occurs long after last fungicide app and harvest.